Cognizance
by heartsn'minds
Summary: Caroline seeks out Stefan at the boarding house but finds both him and Damon gone - leaving a messy den behind. Caroline's OCD tendencies get the best of her and the appearance of Enzo only livens things up some more. Humor.


The house is silent as a tomb and Caroline can't help but wonder when she actually began to miss the furious shouts exchanged between Damon and Elena or the snarky banter between Damon and Stefan. Despite the fact that Caroline had long since given up hope of Stefan and Elena getting together again, she still found her heart reeling when she discovered that the renewed interest Elena had for Stefan was nothing more than Katherine taking possession of Elena. The fact that her supposed best friend had been possessed by her doppelgänger didn't make Caroline feel as horrified as it should have; granted she was appalled at what Katherine had done and extremely relieved to have her friend back, but in between the shenanigans at Whitmore and Elena/Katherine's sudden and new understanding for Caroline's less than desirable actions, the blonde found herself actually forming a genuine friendship with the vindictive Bulgarian beauty.

Taking a seat on one of the numerous sofas in the Salvatore living room, Caroline found an abandoned bottle of scotch and an empty tumbler sitting beside it. Damon had no doubt left it there alongside the crumpled newspaper articles and probably thrown a temper tantrum before he vanished off as he furniture was slightly skewed and the Persian carpet was rumpled and lopsided.

Giving in to her control freak tendencies, Caroline began to adjust the future - pushing back the recliner and making sure that the sofa was in perfect parallel alignment with the coffee table. Picking up the crumpled newspapers, Caroline began to hum an old time tune as she slowly unfurled them (even though she was just going to toss them in the trash) and place them in a neat stack atop the coffee table. The slight obsessive compulsive need for organization was the perfect remedy for Caroline's befuddled brain and combined with the warmth of the roaring fireplace and the plush decor of the Persian rug, Caroline felt strangely at home at the boarding house.

"I see Damon has decided to hire a housekeeper. And even took the time to find an attractive one at that," a lilting accented voice said, startling Caroline from her unfurling and stacking. A tall figure emerged from the shadows of god-knows-where-he-suddenly-decided-to-appear-from and Caroline found herself staring into the dark mocha orbs of a handsome Italian, casually leaning against the doorframe.

Whether it was sheer weariness from having dealt with the sudden revelation that Elena wasn't Elena or the fact that Caroline needed a distraction, she bit back her acidic denial of the man's incorrect observation and instead, glared at him.

The stranger seemed to be amused by Caroline's mute response and took her silence as an invitation to walk further into the room, seating himself down on the club chair adjacent to where Caroline had been diligently working.

Fighting back the urge to stand up and walk away, Caroline eyed the man before her curiosity finally got the better of her. "If you're one of Damon's psycho acquaintances from the past and are here to extract revenge on him then I'm sorry to say that he's decided to perform the infamous Salvatore Disappearing Act and will not be back for any specified length of time."she finished, her voice taking a faux perkiness most often heard in those god awful infomercials.

Her snappy retort seemed to have amused the stranger as he now leaned forward, a smile on his (handsome - not that Caroline was thinking that) face. "I'm aware that Damon Salvatore's not here. No doubt trying to hide from me." he added on, his voice slightly boastful but filled with more suppressed bitterness than anything else. Caroline should know - after all her time spent with a certain Original Hybrid, she knew deeply sated anger and suppressed rage when she saw - or heard - it.

_Great_, Caroline mentally sighed, _I'm stuck at the Salvatore boarding house with another insanely attrac - _atrocious_ foreign psycho with a grudge against the Salvatore's. Just my luck. Seriously. _

"So are you just going to sit here and pull a Bond villain look all night while waiting for him in the dark?" the words slipped out of Caroline's lips before she could even try to hold them back and she vaguely wondered if it was possible to knock him out before he realized that she was just a baby vampire.

He seemed not to notice Caroline's train of thought as he flashed her a grin and shook his head. "I don't know who that is but I can assure you that I don't spend all my time hunting down the likes of Damon Salvatore. He usually comes to me." that was a blatant lie on Enzo's part and he had no idea why he'd even spun it. Was it to impress the pretty, vivacious blonde before him? Was it so he could entertain himself for some time before Damon ultimately stepped through those doors? Enzo knew Damon couldn't have just up and left - despite Damon's apparent disgust with Mystic Falls, the Southern born vampire simply couldn't tear himself away from his hometown.

Well, that and the fact he appeared to be infatuated with some brunette vampire. Whoever she was. _Probably not half as attractive as the blonde sitting before me_, Enzo mused distractedly as he eyed the creamy skinned vampire up and down. Her bright cornflower blue eyes were the very things that seemed to have Enzo taking pause; despite having been in a cell for a good number of years, he still remembered the beauties that he had been with but none of them, Enzo noted, none of them had eyes so blue. Eyes so soulful. Eyes so…open.

"Would you please stop staring at me? It's getting kind of creepy although I should've probably expected that from someone who's friends or whatever with Damon." Caroline cut in sharply. There was no way in hell she was going to allow another good looking foreign maniac seduce her again, one was enough to last her a lifetime. Or two. Straightening her back (and offering Enzo a better view of her ample bust), Caroline pushed the stack of newspapers to a corner of the coffee table before standing up.

"And might I ask where you're going?" Enzo called to Caroline's retreating form, but still not rising from where he sat by the fireside.

"I'm leaving," Caroline replied back, not sure why she was even acknowledging him as she reached the coat stand and plucked her black leather jacket - one Katherine had bought for her as a gift - off. "College isn't a 'come if you please' sort of thing." she added, straightening her jacket lining before turning to open the door.

Before her hand even reached the handle, Enzo was on her; his hand gripped gently at her wrist and he had already spun her forward to face him.

Caroline raised a brow. "You're obviously a vampire and a pretty old one, judging by your speech mannerisms, but I'm going to say you never went to etiquette school because grabbing a lady by the wrist as she's about to leave is definitely not on the list of 'polite things gentlemen do'." Caroline bit out sarcastically.

Enzo smirked down at her. "Your speech alludes to the fact that I you believe me to be a gentleman which then also gives light to the fact that Damon Salvatore is also one, if you so believe we are ah, 'friends' as you say." Caroline's cheeks colored but before she could retort back, Enzo pulled her closer, "and you also imply that you're a lady but judging by the way you speak, I have to say - being a lady is the farthest thing on your list of priorities."

The blonde narrowed her eyes at his purposeful insult. "Thanks for the analysis but if I really wanted a Dr. Phil session, I'd get one from my psych professor. Now will you seriously let go of me before I make you?"

"You're a baby vampire," Enzo replied easily, "what's the extent of your damage?"

"The fact that you're a guy and a kick down there is going to hurt - whether you're a thousand years old or just ten." Caroline replied tartly, attempting to cross her arms but failed as Enzo's grip still hadn't lessened. "Listen mysterious friend/associate/enemy of Damon's - " Enzo suppressed a laugh at Caroline's characterization of him, " - I'm really tired and I've just been through the wringer in finding out that creepy spell magic never goes away and that my friend was possessed by a doppelgänger for a good amount of months and that my ex-boyfriend is still holding a grudge against me and - "

"My name's Enzo. What's yours?"

The sudden innocent question startled Caroline out of her tangent and she eyed Enzo with surprise and skepticism. "All right, this is such a cliche question but if I tell you my name, are you going to let me go?"

"Maybe."

"Ugh, fine. _Enzo_," Caroline said, stressing his name (Enzo suddenly decided he liked the abbreviation of his full name much better but then again, he supposed he'd prefer any nickname of his that left her lips), "it's Caroline. And I'll have you know the reason you're getting an answer out of me so easily is just because I'm tired and if I wasn't, it'd never be this quick."

"Easy?" Enzo asked, "I had to listen to your inner monologue for a good twenty minutes. I practically provided the services of a private therapist, I think that counts as fair payment for your name."

Caroline scoffed. "Oh, please - "

Suddenly the front door burst open and in stumbled a very intoxicated Damon, supported by an exasperated Stefan. "And _this_ is exactly why we can't go to nice bars and - Caroline?" Stefan asked, seeing his blonde best friend there for the first time before his eyes suddenly narrowed. Dropping Damon to the ground with a loud thunk, Stefan nearly tackled Enzo down had it not been for the grip the Augustine vampire had on Caroline's wrist. "Let go of Caroline, Enzo." Stefan snarled, causing the baby vampire's eyes to widen at Stefan's hostile tone. A tone of voice she'd only ever heard when Stefan was confronting someone who had done serious damage to his family.

"Calm down, Stefan," Caroline said, trying her best to placate her friend from an equally tensed Enzo. "Creepy here was just…showing me out." she finished lamely, nearly face palming herself at her lame excuse and then berating herself for even trying to find an excuse to defend this Enzo character that she'd just spoken to for a grand total of thirty minutes (with a good half of it dedicated to an unintentional staring contest between the two). "Seriously, Stefan - "

"Way to fucking drop me on the ground, _brother_." a drunken Damon suddenly moaned from the ground, causing all three to shift their attentions to the intoxicated vampire on the ground. As his eyes opened and focused on the scene before him, Damon groaned, "great, I've officially gone over the human and vampire limit. Stefan, help me out here - I'm hallucinating. Did they put werewolf venom into my shots? Cause I swear blondie is standing here playing girlfriend to psychotic Enzo-boy right now." he finished before passing out on the floor again.

"Well. He's certainly out of it," Enzo mused to a disgruntled Stefan and a bewildered Caroline (whose hand had now slipped into his).

* * *

**A/N: Um, I don't know where this came from but...I kinda like Caroline/Enzo. What would they be called? Carenzo? Enroline? What do you think? Carenzo/Enroline or Klaorline? **


End file.
